


In This Life

by WritersBlock_1463



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Family Fluff, Soulmates, you feel what your soulmate feels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:06:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 14,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22977370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritersBlock_1463/pseuds/WritersBlock_1463
Summary: MacCready couldn't remember a time he didn't feel cold. The many layers he would wear would do nothing to chase away the chill. Even in Little Lamplight he recalled bundling himself in as many layers he could get his hands on without restricting his movements.Nora talked a big game and she always acted with confidence, but she was worried. What if Shaun was already dead, what if the institute doesn’t really have him. The word of the man that killed her husband and stole her baby doesn’t mean much to her, so why would she believe him. Nothing about this world had made sense to her since she had woken up in the vault and, she wondered if it would ever again.Both Nora and MacCready are racing against time to save their sons and they find help from one another. Will they realize that there is more connecting them to each other then they think._________________________This is a soulmate AU, where they feel what the other feels.Title of story named after Delta Goodrem song 'In This Life'*Currently being edited*
Relationships: Robert Joseph MacCready/Female Sole Survivor, Robert Joseph MacCready/Sole Survivor
Comments: 7
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

MacCready couldn't remember a time he didn't feel cold. The many layers he would wear would do nothing to chase away the chill. Even in Little Lamplight he recalled bundling himself in as many layers he could get his hands on without restricting his movements.

When he was younger, he had tried everything he could think of. Once when he was drunk, like super drunk, he had stuck his whole arm into a fire. Luckily, Lucy was there to pull him out of the flames, she was always there for him.

As he grew older, he just accepted that he would just have to live with the fact that his body would feel completely frozen for the rest of his life. 

Well, he thought that would be the case, but a few months ago everything had changed. No more was he abnormally cold. Instead he was now constantly sweating up a storm. All the layers that had never been enough, were now too much.

Now he was faced with a problem. Rid himself of his extra layers or keep them just in case his newfound warmth left as suddenly as it had arrived.

Truth be told, MacCready had also grown attached to his clothing, they felt like a part of him, just as much as his arms and legs. It wasn't something he would admit out loud, he had an image to uphold after all, but he couldn't bear the thought of parting with them.

Eventually he had just decided to keep his clothing, he would just have to learn to live with the sweat from now on. The downside, however, was now his mood was considerably worse, which is saying something coming from him.

He'd have to push past his own discomfort for now though. He had much bigger problems than his comfort. What was really his concern was getting the caps together to put together a crew to get into Med-Tec.

He needed that damn cure; he didn't know what he would do if he lost Duncan. He refused to think about it. A world without Duncan wouldn't be a world in which he would want to live in.

However, to get the caps together he had to be doing a job. Hiding out in Goodneigbor had not been great for his job prospects, but surviving to make it another day, was all he could do.

"Can't say I'm surprised to find you in a dump like this, MacCready." MacCready stands and finds himself face to face with one of the two biggest idiots in the commonwealth. These two seriously needed to get a hobby other than hounding him.

“I was wondering how long it would take your bloodhounds to track me down, Winlock. It’s been almost three months… don’t tell me you’re getting rusty. Should we take this outside?”

“It ain't like that. I'm just here to deliver a message.” MacCready scoffed. Were they really trusted to deliver messages?

“In case you forgot, I left the Gunners for good.” ‘AKA get the fuck out of my face’, MacCready thought.

“Yeah, I heard. But you're still taking jobs in the Commonwealth. That isn't going to work for us.” 

“I don't take orders from you... not anymore. So why don't you take your girlfriend and walk out of here while you still can.” 

“What?! Winlock, tell me we don't have to listen to this shit…”

“Listen up, MacCready. The only reason we haven't filed your body full of bullets is that we don't want a war with Goodneigbor. See, we respect other people's boundaries... We know how to play the game. It's something you never learned.” MacCready was surprised that they have the capacity to learn, hell the fact that they knew which was Barnes and which was Winlock was an improvement in MacCready’s opinion.

“Glad to have disappointed.”

“You can play the tough guy all you want. But if we hear you're still operating inside Gunner territory, all bets are off. You got that?”

“You finished?” MacCready huffed out, his temper almost to boiling point.

“Yeah…we’re finished. Come on, Barnes.” MacCready let out a puff of air, fucking finally, he didn’t know how long they were going to keep wasting the air around him for, thank fuck they had finally left.

“Get out of my face.”

That got MacCready’s attention, he was so busy dealing with them he hadn’t even seen the figure standing in the doorway. Holy Fucking shit…is that a vault suit? He somewhat recalls the barest memory of Travis chattering nervously about some vault dweller, but damn he wished he had payed more attention to that damned radio.  
If the vault suit didn’t give it away, her un-wasteland appearance sure would. She didn’t have the usual wear and tear most folks carried around with them by living in the wastes. Hell, she looked just like some of the pre-war pin-ups, well all except her eyes, her eyes where the eyes of a person not afraid to kill.  
She walked up to him, and her red painted lips lifted in a small smile. “Look lady, if you’re preaching about the atom, or looking for a friend, you’ve got the wrong guy. If you need a hired gun… then maybe, we can talk.”

Play it cool MacCready. He eyed the shiny high modified 10mm on her side and the 50. Rifle slung on her back, she didn’t seem like the type to need a hired gun, but he wasn’t one to ask questions. If he played this right, this could be worth a whole lot of caps.  
He watched as her eyes scanned over him, “Maybe. Why don’t you tell me who those guys were first?”

If Winlock and Barns cost him his first job that his had in the last month he will be fucking pissed, he bit the bullet and answered her “A couple of morons looking to climb the ladder of success by stepping on everyone else on the way up. You shouldn’t be surprised though, that’s how it goes when you run with the gunners.” 

“The gunners?”

MacCready was a little surprised, had she never heard of the gunners? “They’re one of the biggest gangs in the commonwealth. Got a rep for being crazy…you so tightly wound, you’d think they were a cult or something. Stuck with them for a while cause the money was good, but I never fit in. That’s why I made a clean break and started flying solo.”

She tilted her head, not speaking, but not telling him to stop. Maybe he hadn’t fucked it up yet.

“Now, what about you? How do I know I won’t end up with a bullet in my back?” MacCready really couldn’t afford to fuck this up.

“You don’t. That’s part of the risk, right?

MacCready was beginning to like this woman, but he had to play it cool. “Can’t argue with that. I’ll tell you what. Price is 250 caps… up front. And there is no room for bargaining. What do ya say?”

“MacCready, right?” she asked looking him in the eye. “Yeah, it’s MacCready.”

“The situation and job I have for you is different from your other jobs you have been hired for probably.” She pauses to gauge his reaction.

“Look lady, I don’t warm people’s beds, I will do I lot for money but that’s on the list of things I don’t do.”

“Good, because that's not what your job would be. I’m curious though what else is on ‘MacCready’s Nope List'?” She smiled, seemingly humored by his assumption of the job.

“I don’t kill or hurt any children, anything else is decided upon by the details of the job.” Children always reminded him of Duncan, and he couldn’t bear the thought of hurting any kids.

“Let’s go discuss the details over some food, I haven’t eaten today and I'm hungry.” After a few minutes of listening to Magnolia singing as they waited for their food, she turned towards him. 

“I’m going after the institute. I’m going to bring it to the ground if I have to.They have my son and I’m not stopping until I know that he is safe. At least as safe as he can be in the commonwealth.”

“That’s a big job, like huge, not something two people could pull off.”

“Yes, which is why I’m building an army. The last few months I have been building up the Minutemen, securing settlements and supplies. The next step is, well, you.”

“Me? Don’t get me wrong I’m good, but what makes me so special.”

“A friend of mine told me about you, and your history with the gunners, from what she told me and what I have learned I believe you are the right person. The gunners have been harassing my settlements and to put it bluntly they are an obstacle in my way. I need them gone.”

“You’re planning on taking down the gunners too? Seriously?”

“Yes. Now talking payment. You will receive the same payment any other of my soldiers are given. 250 caps per week with food and a place to sleep. You will be slightly different from my regular soldiers. You will not have to follow the command of anyone other than me. You would be working for me, not the minutemen. You will be given as much ammo and stimpacks as needed. We split any loot found and any money made from said loot in half 50/50. You will be watching my back and I will watch yours. So, what do you say?”

This was crazy. The job seemed to be an impossible one, but the pay was good, really good, better than any other job he had ever taken. How in the world did she even have that amount of caps to just throw around? He can’t just pass up an opportunity like this, he can stick around a while and if the job got too messy, he would just make a break. He needed this money, he needed to get into Med-Tec.

“Okay Boss, you got a deal.”

“You can call me Nora" she held out her hand towards him, it was a pre-war gesture, but he accepted it, nonetheless. Her hands were soft, but he could feel the callouses where her guns would rest in her hand.

“You lead, and I’ll follow, boss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is my first fan fiction I've written for Fallout, and to be completely honest its the first time I've written in about seven years.
> 
> It has been quite a long time, and I've never been great at grammar. If anyone notices anything, feel free to tell me, and I will attempt to fix it.
> 
> Any feedback is better then none, so yeah. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Nora talked a big game and she always acted with confidence, but she was worried. What if Shaun was already dead, what if the institute doesn’t really have him. The word of the man that killed her husband and stole her baby, doesn’t mean much to her, so why would she believe him. Nothing about this world had made sense to her since she had woken up in the vault and, she wondered if it would ever again.

She had to take this one step at a time. Her next target was these damn gunners, they had been harassing her settlements and being nuisances since the beginning. Lot to mention what had happened in Quincy. They needed to pay, but first she needed someone who knew them, someone that hates them as much as she did.

Walking into Goodneighbor had provided her with a lead. Daisy had told her about a Merc, apparently one that she herself trusted. She told her that he used to run with the gunners, but was a big softy when you got to know him. 

Daisy pointed her towards The Third Rail, and it wasn’t hard to spot him from there. She stood in the doorway as he ran his mouth at the two men in front of him. Yeah, he might be the one for the job, seeing as the two men were also gunners.

She silently watched the encounter until the two men, Winlock and Barnes she had learned,started her way.

"Get out of my face"

Yeah, there is no doubt that these two assholes were gunners. Such charm and exquisite vocabulary would come from no other. 

She watched dumb and dumber walk out and she turned towards who she assumed was MacCready. She couldn’t stop her lips from quirking into a smile when she saw him eyeing her vault suit. She had dropped her armor and pack off with Daisy, so she knew that she probably looked a little green to him. 

He quickly recovered from whatever was on his mind and his eyes quickly snapped back to her face, after he realized they had been staring directly towards her chest. The people who had designed the vault suits must have been perverts because it really didn’t leave much to the imagination, but it was still the most comfortable thing she had to wear that would fit under all of her armor.

“Look lady, if you’re preaching about the atom, or looking for a friend, you’ve got the wrong guy. If you need a hired gun… then maybe, we can talk.”

Nora quickly looked him over, he seemed to be in his twenties, a little younger than her. Well, a lot younger than her if she counted the years she spent in deep freeze.

“Maybe. Why don’t you tell me who those guys were first?”

“A couple of morons looking to climb the ladder of success by stepping on everyone else on the way up. You shouldn’t be surprised though, that’s how it goes when you run with the gunners.”   
So, what Daisy had told her was correct, he definitely knew about them, and from what she had gathered from his conversation with them, they were definitely not on good terms with each other.

She needed to milk some more about his thought on them, so she decided to play dumb.“The gunners?”

“They’re one of the biggest gangs in the commonwealth. Got a rep for being crazy…you so tightly wound, you’d think they were a cult or something. Stuck with them for a while cause the money was good, but I never fit in. That’s why I made a clean break and started flying solo.”

She chose not to say anything and just waited for him to continue.

“Now, what about you? How do I know I won’t end up with a bullet in my back?”

“You don’t. That’s part of the risk, right?

“Can’t argue with that. I’ll tell you what. Price is 250 caps… up front. And there is no room for bargaining. What do ya say?”

250 Caps? Damn, were jobs so hard to come by that he had to sell his services so cheap, or was Daisy pulling her leg when she suggested him. Daisy had told her that he was one of the best shots in the commonwealth, and she trusted Daisy.

“MacCready, right?” she asked looking him in the eye. “Yeah, it’s MacCready.”

“The situation and job I have for you is different from your other jobs you have been hired for probably.” She didn’t mean for that sentence to sound vaguely sexual, but it was too late to take it back.

“Look lady, I don’t warm people’s beds, I will do I lot for money but that’s on the list of things I don’t do.”

She didn’t know why she felt disappointed all the sudden, she couldn’t afford attraction to someone right now, she had to find her baby. At the same time though she felt glad that he didn’t offer himself to others for money. She shook the possessiveness away in her mind. She just meet the man for god’s sake why the fuck was she feeling this way.

“Good, because that's not what your job would be. I’m curious though what else is on ‘MacCready’s Nope List'?” She attempted a smile to cover for the mess that her mind was in right now.  
“I don’t kill or hurt any children, anything else is decided upon by the details of the job.” He was the one- the one for the job that is. She really needed to get a grip on her thoughts. All that's left now was to discuss payment and try to convince him to work for her.

“Let’s go discuss the details over some food, I haven’t eaten today and I'm hungry.”  
She sat at a table in the corner and listened to Magnolia, waiting for the small meal she had ordered for them from Charlie. She turned herself to face him and decided to just lay it all on the table. 

“I’m going after the institute. I’m going to bring it to the ground if I have to.They have my son and I’m not stopping until I know that he is safe. At least as safe as he can be in the commonwealth.”

“That’s a big job, like huge, not something two people could pull off.”

“Yes, which is why I’m building an army. The last few months I have been building up the Minutemen, securing settlements and supplies. The next step is, well, you.”

It was true, her settlements were speckled across the commonwealth, she had small towns set up and a few of them were even fully running factories, producing all the ammunition and weapons the minutemen would ever need. Hell, she even had Sturges working on fixing some of the pre-war tanks and land vehicles. She was even thinking of ways to secure some of the BOS’s vertibirds for the minutemen. 

“Me? Don’t get me wrong I’m good, but what makes me so special.”

“A friend of mine told me about you, and your history with the gunners, from what she told me and what I have learned I believe you are the right person. The gunners have been harassing my settlements and to put it bluntly they are an obstacle in my way. I need them gone.”

“You’re planning on taking down the gunners too? Seriously?”

“Yes. Now talking payment. You will receive the same payment any other of my soldiers are given. 250 caps per week with food and a place to sleep. You will be slightly different from my regular soldiers. You will not have to follow the command of anyone other than me. You would be working for me, not the minutemen. You will be given as much ammo and stimpacks as needed. We split any loot found and any money made from said loot in half 50/50. You will be watching my back and I will watch yours. So, what do you say?”

She watched as he mentally debated everything she had just told him. She knew it was a lot, her goals were lofty she knew that, but what else was she supposed to do? Abandon her son? Leave him in the hands of monsters?

“Okay Boss, you got a deal.”

“You can call me Nora" It was her name after all, just because she was paying him didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends. She held out her hand, a gesture she still hadn’t shook from her days being a lawyer, lucky he didn’t question her and took her hand. Holy fuck, his hands were huge… she quickly let go and gestured towards the bar. She had business with Charlie that she needed to deal with.

“You lead, and I’ll follow, boss.” Now, that just felt like he purposely said that to bluntly ignore her last remark about her name. 

She turned and walked towards the bar sitting on one of the stools and ordered a drink, time to find out what job Charlie had for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't fully edited this chapter, so if you spotted any mistakes please let me know so I can correct them. Thank you so much for reading. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter out soon.


	3. Chapter 3

MacCready walked over to the bar and sat next to Nora as she ordered two beers. 

“I could use something a little stronger.” MacCready said, not looking forward to the room temperature, flat beer that she had just ordered.

She looked over to him, “Charlie won’t tell me the job until I buy a drink, and then I would like to do the job with a clear head. There for, beer, and that goes for you too. I’m not having you walking behind me with a loaded gun after drinking anything harder than a few beers.”

He sighed, she was probably right. He accepted the beer from Charlie and took a few swigs.

“That’s right Goodneighboor. I’m the one you’re looking for. We will be right back after a short break.”

“Beautiful as always Mags...”

“Thanks Charlie. Can I get some water?”

“No need to ask, I always set aside a stash of the good stuff just for you.”

“You’re such a sweetheart, Charlie. Thank you.”

Magnolia sat in the stool on the other side of Nora as she waited for her water. She looked over towards Nora and smiled, “Hmm? What’s the matter, sweetheart? Don’t tell me you didn’t like the song?”

Nora looked over towards MacCready and he just shrugged his shoulders. This was all her, Magnolia was a flirt, it would be interesting to see this play out.

“I loved the song. It was perfect.”

MacCready chose this moment to chime in, “She’s one of the reasons why this is such a great place to lie low.”

“Oh, thank you! A girl tries her best.”

She looked towards Nora and tilted her head, “Now there’s something special about you isn’t there? Don’t tell me. Let me guess… It’s your eyes. Quick and… intense. I bet you never miss a detail, hmm? Like what you see?” Magnolia gave a quick glance towards MacCready and then just as quickly darted back to Nora.

“So what brings a woman like you to my part of town?”

“I came here for the music.” MacCready walked towards the other side of Nora, and ordered another beer from Charlie, turning to face their conversation. 

“Flatterer, I think you and I are going to get along. So it’s my turn to answer questions right? What can I do for you?”

“I wouldn’t mind hearing another song.”

“A good musician listens to her audience. How about this one?”

As Magnolia walked past she stopped by MacCready, “Don’t let this one go, yeah? She is a fiery one.”

“Mags, she’s paying me for a job, nothing more.” He said lowly, looking towards Nora, who was chatting with Charlie, not paying any mind to them.

“Some advice? Make it more, trust me I’ve been doing this dance awhile, I know when two people could become...dance partners, if you catch my drift.” She floated back up to the stage to perform the song Nora had requested, leaving him to dissect what she had said. 

Nora looked over and gestured for him to come closer, he pushed Magnolia’s comments out of his mind, there would be time to think later, right now he had to do his job.

“Now that you’re liquored up, got a proposition for ya…I need a dirty girl to do some dirty, dirty work. Blood on the pavement. Bodies in the ground. That kind of thing. Interested?”

MacCready grimaced at Charlie’s wording, he sounded like a cheap porno.

“Sounds up my alley…”

“I got a certain anonymous client who’s payin’ top dollar for a cleanup job. Three locations. Everyone inside. No witnesses. Only catch? It’s all in town, in the old warehouses, so I can’t use my regulars. Too noticeable.That’s where you come in. The job’s 200 caps. Payment after it's done. And don’t worry...I’ll know when it is.”

“Three locations? That’s a lot of time...Alot of bullets…”

Holy shit, she is trying to squeeze more caps out of Charlie. 

“I guess we could sweeten the pot a bit. 250.”

“Too low...barely covers the risks…”

Fuck, she might blow this if she asks for too much, but damn if it wasn’t hot. 

“All right, guv. 300.”

“More. Money. Charlie.”

MacCready was enjoying this a little too much. This was new, he can’t say he had been turned on by this before. The combination of Nora, who seriously reminded him of the pin-ups he had hidden from the other kids in Little Lamplight, and the fact that she was demanding from Charlie, was forcing the blood to rush directly south.

“Givin’ me a right kick in the Alberts… We’ll make it 400, but that’s as high as I’m goin’.”

“I’ll get it done.”

“You betta’. Now go out there and bust some heads.”

MacCready seriously appreciated that Nora wasn’t afraid to get her hand dirty. However, Nora’s conversation with Charlie was wrapping up, so he quickly tried to think of anything other than Nora to calm down his little buddy.

By some miracle, by the time she had turned around to face him, he was put together and he followed her as she began to walk out of The Third Rail.

When they made it outside, she looked at the time on her Pip-Boy, “It will be awhile before we can hit those warehouses.” She looked over at his rifle. “Do you need any ammo for that?”

“Yeah, I could use some more.” 

“Alright, follow me.”

They begin walking towards the entrance of Goodneighbor, but she quickly turns to walk towards Daisy’s shop.

“MacCready! I haven’t seen you in a while. You haven’t been avoiding me, have you?” 

MacCready smiles, “Now how can I stay away from someone as cute as you, Daisy?”

“You’re a lousy liar, but I’ll just play stupid and pretend I don’t know that.”

Daisy looked over to Nora and smiled, “I see you hired him, told you he would be the right person for the job.”

“You were right Daisy he will do just fine.”

“So, what can I help you with today?”

“Just here to pick up my things, I appreciate you watching them for me.”

“Don’t mention it. So what far corner of the commonwealth are you running off to now?”

“I have some business to take care of here, probably going to be in Goodneighbor for the next day of two. You haven’t seen Nick by any chance?”

“Nope, not yet. He the reason you are sticking around?”

“Partly, he told me to wait for him here. We have a lead on Shaun.”

“Really, that’s great news, I hope you find him, God knows what that poor boy has been through. He will be fine though, he has a strong mother fighting for him.”

“Thanks Daisy, I appreciate it.”

Nora walks behind the counter and grabs her bag and another from within Daisy’s merchandise. She walks over to the counter and puts a few caps on the counter to pay for it and hands it to MacCready.

He wanted to ask her about this Shaun. He was curious, but she hadn’t told him, so it wasn’t his business.

“You are going to need that. It should serve you well, sometimes we can be on the road for a while so try it to make sure it sits right.”

MacCready puts it on and buckles the supportive straps, it was the type of bag that evenly spreads the weight, it should do great for long treks. He nods in confirmation as she swings her bag over her shoulder. Walking over towards K.L.E.O’s shop she asks to use the weapon’s bench.

“How do you feel about allowing me to add a suppressor to your rifle? I’ll understand if you say no, but it would really help for the warehouse job, it's that or you will have to use one of my guns for it.”

MacCready wasn’t sure if he liked that idea, but he really didn’t like using any gun other than his. He hesitantly handed over his rifle to her. “Can I add a better scope to it also?”

He nodded and walked over to K.L.E.O to browse the weapons for sale while he waited. 

MacCready pulled at his collar, it was Mid-day and the sun was at its hottest. He could feel the droplets of sweat bead down his forehead. With The Third Rail being underground, it was cooler there then the temperature it was now. 

He walked out of the shop and bumped into a random drifter.

“Watch it...You Good?”

MacCready tried to see past the man’s sunglasses but they were too darkly tinted to make out anything. He muttered out a short apology and continued over to the wall. He leaned against it and waited patiently for Nora to finish, subtly keeping an eye on that drifter.

After a while, Nora exited the shop with his rifle in hand, a proud smile on her lips. MacCready liked her smile, it was the type of smile that made you want to smile also.

“So, what do you think?” She bit her lip waiting for his reply, and MacCready’s eyes focused on them. After a second, he realized she had asked a question and he snapped his eyes to look over his gun. It was some damn good work, “Nice. Thanks, I appreciate you not breaking it or anything.”

He held it up, looking through the scope, he whistled out his approval.

“Fu-Frick, this is some damn good work.”

“Thank you, come on, we have quite a few more hours before we can hit the warehouses. Daisy had given me a small job earlier involving the library.”

He nodded and trailed behind her as they exited Goodneighbor. Nora seemed to have a never ending amount of jobs, if that turned out to be a regular occurrence, this could be a very wise investment on his part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am trying to post at least a chapter a day. Please, if you see any mistakes or think I'm rushing the story line, tell me. It would be highly appreciated.
> 
> Thanks you for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

Nora was crouched in front of the door leading into the Boston Public Library as MacCready watched her back.

He kept his head on a swivel, not liking the low ground they were on at the moment. His eyes were scanning the rooftops when he heard her make a noise of accomplishment. Turning to face her direction, his eyes naturally drifted to rest on her ass, but he quickly snapped them up towards her hands.

“That's it.” She slowly pushed open the door and stood back up.

“Looks like you’ve done that a few times.” She threw a smile over her shoulder at him as she pulled out her 10mm.

“Attention. Security breach near subway entrance. Visitors and employees are advised to seek cover and remain calm.”

Damn, sometimes it amazed MacCready that some of this shit still works. He crouched next Nora, waiting for her direction.

“Okay, from what I remember about this library, the subway entrance is on the other side of the building. I say we allow the protectron and turrets to do their job over there, while we take out these ones quietly.”

MacCready nods in agreement.

She quickly lifts her 10mm and quickly shoots one of the protectron that were walking towards them, the suppressor on her gun doing its job and not giving anything their location. 

She gestures towards the room to her left and points towards the proprotectron farther from them. He catches her drift and lifts his rifle. He has it in his sight when he hears the slightest confirmation from Nora. They both shoot in unison, she hits the turret, exploding near one of the protectrons, while he hits the protectron she had gestured to a second ago. 

Her hand quickly flicks up and she puts down the other two protectrons,while he hits the other turret.

They don’t even have a chance to gather their bearings before some super mutants come bursting through the door they had entered from. MacCready quickly grabs her arm and throws them behind a overturned bookcase.

A second later an explosion goes off from where they were just standing, a grenade maybe?  
Whatever it was, had also blown up the super mutants that had entered, MacCready wasn’t surprised, their bodies may have grown exponentially, but their brains did not.  
He looks down to find that he had but himself into a very cliche situation. He was laying over top of Nora. She raised an eyebrow at him and he took the hint, quickly getting himself up while offering her his hand.

She accepted it and stood with a lot more grace than he had. Her gaze swept over the scorched floor where the explosion had happened.

“Nice reflexes, we could have ended up like these green idiots.” She eyed the new ‘paint’ the walls were splattered with, “God Damn, they somehow smell worse, didn’t think that was possible.”

“Trust me, this could get a lot worse.” MacCready’s nose wrinkled, that was not a story he was going to be sharing any time soon, just the thought of it made his nose burn.

After a moment of silence she slipped her hand out of his before he had even realized he was still holding it, thankfully neither of them acknowledged it. That was not a conversation either of them wanted to have.

They began to walk further into the room, MacCready eyed the books piled up in the corners. “Let’s be careful. No human being would possibly pile books this way.”

His joke must have worked because she cracked a smile and snorted. Walking into the back room she casually walked down the few steps that were there. 

“Hell yeah.” 

MacCready looked over to see that she had one of those bobbleheads in her hand, “Hey, those things are worth quite a few caps.”

“Nope, not selling this, I collect them.”

“Your call boss, just don’t make me carry it.

Nora walked over towards another locked door and pulled out her bobby pins. As she started to get to work he walked towards the doorway to watch for anymore of those greenies. He could hear in the distance they were fighting with the protectrons, but he just focused on keeping lookout.

“Shit. Damn lock.”

He snorted quietly, he could relate to that, some of these locks were tough. 

“Sweet.”   
He turned around and looked over towards her as she rooted through a trunk. After a moment she walked towards him and passed him some of the ammo she had just found.

He muttered out a thank you and accepted it.

“Security breach neutralized. Visitors may now come and go as they please. All employees please return to work.”

She walked into a small nook that was well hidden from sight. 

“Oh for fucks sake, I always find this shit after I do the hard work.” 

MacCready found it kinda funny how hard she was glaring at the keys that were sitting on the desk, but he guessed he could understand her frustration.

She starts to work on hacking into the terminal, and she achieves that relatively quickly. She shuts down the remaining turrets and protectrons just in case.

“Okay, all that's left is to loot and return Daisy’s book. Would you do the honors?” She passed him a well-worn book and they walked over to the book-return.

“Huh, never knew there was still junk in this thing.”

“Hey I’ll have you know, I want some of that junk. Mostly the magazine if I’m being honest.”

“Seriously boss, I could understand maybe if it was an issue of Grognak, but come on.”

“I collect Grognak comics too, but I also collect these.”

“Alright, not like you can get it right now anyways, we have only returned one book.”

“Well, yeah, but I have a ton of them at Sanctuary, so it's just a matter of bringing them here.”

“Oh, hell no, why are you looking at me… I’m not carrying all that junk, just so you can get more junk.”

“Ah, well you see, MacCready I am the one paying you…”

MacCready signs, “Yeah, I get it boss.” She lets out a laugh, and MacCready is proud to be the one that caused it. If the worst thing she throws at him most of the time is carrying junk, he thinks he could do it. Hell, he would probably do it just to hear her laugh again.

“Alright let’s loot this place and then head back to get our payment.”

“Our payment?”

“Yeah, you did half the job, therefore you get half the pay. I didn’t say that?”

“No, must have slipped your mind.” Where the hell did she get all her money, she was paying him 250 caps a week, a split of the loot, and also part of the job payment. Fuck, he was really enjoying this job so far.

The walk back to good Neighbor was even more uneventful then it was when they had left. Both of their packs were pretty full, almost none of it was something he would have picked up himself but, he would be her pack mule all she wanted. He just wasn't going to do it quietly. 

They were back in front of Daisy’s shop before the sun was even close to setting, the library job only taking an hour or two, including the walk back and forth.

“You’re back. How’d it go at the library? Get rid of those Super Mutants?”

“We managed to fight our way through the Library. Oh, and we dropped off that book of yours.”

“Heh heh. Only 200 years past due. I know it was an odd request, but thanks for making the library a safer place. We gotta keep some old buildings sacred, you know? Here’s your money.”

Daisy hands over a small bag full of the caps and Nora pockets them,” Any word from Nick?”

“Yeah, one of those Minutemen had stopped by when you we gone, said something about him being a few more days, got held up on another case of his. Said something about he’ll get here as soon as he can.”

“Thanks Daisy, Have a nice day.”

“No problem.”

Nora begins to walk further into Goodneighbor, when MacCready falls in stride with her, “So what’s next, boss?”

“Well, we still have a good 4-5 hours before I want to do the warehouse job, so we are going to head to the Rexford to get some sleep and get prepared.”

“Alright. Lead on, boss.”

They pass The Third Rail and notice the two Neighborhood Watchmen standing over a body, “Wonder what happened here.” 

“Can’t believe it. He looked just like Sammy, too.”

“Sure as hell didn’t act like him. Institute thinks they can replace people with synths in THIS town? They got another thing comin’.”

“What I’m I gonna tell his mother…”

“Damn, you know, when I was in Diamond city, A brother accused his brother of being a synth, ended with him DC security shooting the one brother to stop him before he could start a shootout with the whole town. That city is so damn paranoid.” Nora shakes her head, “The Institute needs to be stopped.”

They enter the Rexford, and MacCready has to give his eyes a second to adjust to the lack of light in the building. Thank fuck that it was cooler in here then it was outside though.

“Damn, I didn’t even realize how hot it was outside until we came in here.” Nora said, she looked over to MacCready. “How in the world are you in that many layers right now? I haven’t been able to wear much more than my Vault suit since I got out of the vault, because of how hot it is, and even my vault suit can be uncomfortable.”

MacCready shrugs, not up to sharing his life story with her, he might trust her an unusual amount for a person he just met, but he had some boundaries.

“Fred? Are you going to hang out in the lobby all day again, or are you actually going to go down and do some work?”

“Being available to the customers is work!” It’s not all about cooking chems, Clair.”

“It’s not all about sampling those chems, either. Maybe if you stopped using, you could focus.”

“What? Where’s the fun in cooking it if you ain’t using it?”

“My mistake.”

MacCready nudges Nora, “could be a job available from Fred, he is always looking for something.”

“Okay, I’ll talk with him after, I want to talk with him.” She gestures to a man watching them from a chair, “Seems to me we might have quite a few jobs opening up to us.”

They walk up to him, “Hey there. You’re new ‘round Goodneighbor if I’m not mistaken. What do ya think?”

“It’s changed alot since the last time I was here.” The way that Nora said that sentence held a story behind it. He really wished he had paid attention to DCR, he feels like he is the only one that doesn't know Nora's story.

“Been here before? Well, Goodneighbnoor’s definitely came up in the past few years. Mostly since Hancock took over. Name’s Rufus. I do repairs around here. Keep the robots running, sell a bit of scrap, that sort of thing.I’m usually here or drinking that swill Charlie’s slingin’ at The Third Rail. Lookin’ for parts? I also might have a job for ya if you’re interested.”

“What’s the job?”

“Dunno if you’ve had the beer down at The Third Rail, but I swear Charlie must’ve found it in a sewer with how bad it tastes.” MacCready wholeheartedly agrees with the statement.

“Found this holotape while doing repairs at the Rexford. Delivery notice for a brewing machine, prewar. Thing is, it was never delivered, what with the bombs and all. Done some askin’ around and i think it might still be intact. Which is where you come in.”

“I assume this is a paying job?”

There she goes again, MacCready had thought it was cool in here, but he could tell it wasn’t going to stay that way, it was pretty embarrassing how much this got him going.

“Of course. How about 200 caps, and some of the beer? Think you can get ahold of that brewing machine for me?”

“This isn’t exactly the safest neighborhood, what about hazard pay?”

MacCready was screwed, so fucking screwed…

“Fair point. 300 caps. Plus beer. So, you gonna take the job?”

“Have you seen how many Super Mutants are out there?”

MacCready excuses himself from the conversation, he can’t stay right now, he was pretty ashamed of himself, but he couldn’t get himself to calm down. “All be over there.” He gestured to the couch a little ways away from them. Nora gave him a quick glance, but quickly looked away, her cheeks tinged pink, she nodded in acknowledgement and continued her conversation with Rufus.

MacCready walked over and sat down, now that he wasn’t standing right next to Nora, he was getting a hold of himself, He was disgusting himself with how big of a creep he was being. He needed to get a hold of himself, make sure he’s not making her uncomfortable. His job was to watch her back, definitely not pushing her up against a wall and fucking her. Hell he just needed to not think about sex at all, especially not with her.

After a few minutes he has himself basically back to normal. Nora comes over to him, her cheeks still tinged pink, but he chalks it up to it being hot today. “I figure we will talk with Fred later, I already got a room, only one was available.”

“Yeah, sure thing boss, let’s go get some shut-eye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you spot any mistakes please let me know, I would be very thankful. I don't know if i personally like how this chapter turned out, but I hope it is okay.
> 
> The next chapter will hopefully be out tomorrow, thanks to anyone that is reading.


	5. Chapter 5

MacCready was trailing silently behind Nora, feeling dead in his feet. He has only been working for Nora for a day, well closer to a few hours, but in any case it was taking its toll on him.

MacCready quickly did the math in his head, he was maybe running on 4 hours of sleep...for the last 27-ish hours. 

Yeah, he was an epitome of health.

“What? No, it can’t...It...It’s...It’s YOU! From Sanctuary Hills, right?”

MacCready’s head snapped towards the direction of the voice, groggily assessing for any type of trouble. After a moment his eyes locked onto the source of the voice. 

“Wait. Are you from Vault-Tec?”

Vault-Tec? Did Nora know this guy from her vault? She hadn't said anything about the vault she was from, but then again he had never asked.

“I AM Vault-Tec! Twenty years of loyal service and now look at me. I wasn’t on the list. But You. Look at you. Two hundred years and you’re still perfect! How? How’s that possible?”

MacCready was confused...did he hear that right? 200 years? He looked towards Nora, and she quickly met his eyes. She gave a very obvious look of 'I'll explain later' so he just kept his questions to himself.

“The Vault had these pods that froze us in place. I only thawed out recently.”

Well, shit… was this common knowledge? This was one of the worst of the Vault-Tec experiments he had heard of. Being locked in a fucking pod for 200 years. What the actual fuck went through these people's heads.

“What? Vault-Tec never told me that! Unbelievable! Well, I had to get to the future the hard way. Living through the...filth! The...decay! And the bloodshed! Look at me! I’m a ghoul! A freak!”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know this would happen.”

MacCready silently shook his head, it wasn't her damn fault.

“You know...you’re the only other person I met from… before. I...uh...I...Oh god...I’ve been so alone here! No Commonwealth settlement wants a Ghoul with 200 years of Vault-Tec sales experience!”

“Hey, you know you could head back to Sanctuary. I’ll come visit. I promise.”

“Really? You… you will? Okay. I’ll head over there right now. You promise you’ll come visit, right? I’ll see you there! Is your husband and baby there? It would be great to see more people from...before.”

Nora frowned and MacCready saw her shoulders slump. "Yes, but not in the way you are thinking...Nate was...he was murdered...his grave is in Sanctuary."

Oh, I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine, you didn’t know… I-uh will see you there, yeah?”

MacCready stayed quiet, but against his better judgment slowly took her hand. She squeezed his hand back so he took it as her being okay with it. She might not know it, but he knew what that was like. Losing the person who you loved. One of the worst parts was when you had to tell people. MacCready still didn't know what to say to people's condolences and it had been years since Lucy died.

“Yeah... I know I shouldn’t but...uh...is your baby-”

“Kidnapped, that’s why I’m here, I’m looking for him…”

“I wish you luck then, I'm...well, once again I’m sorry.”

After he turned the corner and MacCready couldn’t hear his footsteps any longer he turned towards Nora. He could see the silent tears running down her face, so still holding her hand pulled her into the room they had just rented. 

He closed the door behind them and turned the lock. As he turned back to face her, she had looped her arms around his shoulders and rested her face in the crook of his neck. He had to admit, yeah they had just met, but it felt natural to have her in his arms. She clung onto him as she sobbed into his shoulder. He rubbed soft circles into her back, in a way he hoped was comforting. When her sobs had turned into soft hiccups he gently led her towards the bed. He unwrapped her arms from around him, taking off his jacket and laying it on the bare mattress. He gently grabbed her shoulders and guided her to lay down.

She muttered out a thank you and curled into the bed. She pressed her nose against his jacket, but he could still hear the small sniffles. He wanted to tell her about Lucy...let her know she wasn’t alone with her pain, but he couldn’t bring himself to talk about her...knowing that if he did bring her up he would be in no better condition then she was at the moment. 

He made his way over to the couch by the door and laid himself down on it. He felt his bones crack and pop as he stretched. After a few moments of him watching Nora he eventually could hear her small snores. He looked over towards the door, double checking it was locked. He pulled his cap down over his eyes and tried to get a few hours of sleep before their job.

MacCready must have fallen asleep at some point because he was woke up to Nora softly shaking his shoulder. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and sat up. Nora seemed to be put back together, at least as much as a person can be after going through what she had. “Hey, as soon as you are ready we can head to go do the warehouse job.”

MacCready yawned and nodded, still not fully awake to compose a verbal response. He quickly put on his jacket and grabbed his rifle from beside the couch.

“I’m ready when you are, boss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a much shorter chapter this time, but I hope it was okay.   
> I will be posting the next chapter on Monday, and it will be longer than this one.   
> Thanks for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

Nora didn’t know why the Vault-Tec Rep’s questions had got to her so badly. Hell, she hadn’t cried like that since they had that small funeral for Nate and her old neighbors. The emptiness in her chest had followed her through her travels of the wasteland, never failing to remind her of what she had lost.

Nora gives herself a moment of guilt-free thinking. She hadn’t been held like the way MacCready had, since Nate, and the thought of his arms around her made her heart beat faster.

She wished she could follow where the feelings were taking her, but her guilt was holding her back. How can she be feeling this for someone she had just met that day. To her it felt like she had just lost Nate a few months ago. The feelings she is feeling is filing herself with guilt. So heavy on her chest that she almost couldn’t breathe.

Nora knows Nate would want her to move on, she knows it, but is it too soon? She shook her head, she had to find Shaun first, she just had to.

The thought of Shaun growing up in this world, without Nate or her, made her throat close and her stomach to drop. 

“You ready boss?”

Nora looked over towards MacCready, taking note of the crease of worry on his brow. She gave him a small smile, one she hoped was reassuring, “Yeah, let’s go.”

The night was cool, a difference from what it was during the day. Nora looked up into the sky, feeling the small droplets hit her face. 

After the short walk to the first warehouse, Nora crouched in front of the locked door. She was hyper aware of MacCready standing behind her, and she could feel her heart begin to beat faster.

She tried to quiet her thoughts, she had only known him for a day, what was going on?

She made quick work of the lock, it was a pretty easy one, but the rush from the success always cheered her up. The second the door clicked open, she suddenly felt a wave of arousal run through her. It wasn’t the first time it had happened that day. Nora recalled her conversation with Rufus, the feeling had run through her then too. The same result also occurred, she felt her whole body blush, her face started to burn.

She swallowed and tried to regain some composure, slowly opening the door. 

“How do you want to play this, boss?” MacCready had to lean over to whisper in her ear. They both could hear the heavy footsteps above them. His close proximity was not helping to calm her down either.

“We do this as quietly as we can, we don’t want them to know we are here until it’s too late for them to prepare themselves.”

“Sure, thing boss.”

Nora and MacCready crept through the first two warehouses without a hitch. The triggermen being easy marks, they escape without anyone even knowing they were there.

When they enter the third warehouse, they are greeted with a blinding light shining into their eyes. Neither of them could see anything in front of them, Nora knew this was not going to go great.

“Fuck!” As if appearing out of thin air, a triggerman rapidly starts firing his gun, sending bullets flying everywhere.

“Shit!” Nora aims her gun towards the direction she believes the triggerman is, firing off a few shots, she hits him.

The moment of silence is short lived, the heavy footsteps from above stop before coming down the stairs. Huh, maybe they are smarter than she thought.

“Shi-Shoot, the definitely know we are here, boss.”

“Okay, they are waiting for us to walk up the stairs. Take a few of these.” She hands MacCready a few grenades.

“What are these? I don’t recognize them.”

“They are called flash grenades, popular from pre-war. I had them made for this exact scenario.”

With the help of the grenades, they made quick work of the remaining triggermen. The quietly exit the last warehouse. The rain had picked up, Nora could feel the water soaking through her clothing. The temperature had dropped, and she could suppress the shiver that racked through her body.

MacCready turned towards her with a big smile plastered on his face, “That was fuc-freaking awesome, I need to get me some more of those things”

Nora smiled back, “I can arrange for that-wait. Shit!” Nora pulls MacCready into the alleyway next to them.

“What are-”

“Shh.” Nora covers MacCready’s mouth with her hand, carefully listening.

“I swear i heard something go off earlier.”

“It was probably just something outside the gates, come on man, it’s raining cats n’ dogs out here.”

“Just give me a second, I think I saw something go into that alley. You know it is our job to, you know, watch the neighborhood.”

“Whatever, make it quick.”

“Fuck. We were supposed to be discreet on this job.” Nora said, eyes glued towards the corner of the alley, listening to the Neighborhood watch’s footfalls getting closer.

MacCready moves Nora’s hand from his mouth, “I have an idea. Do you trust me?”

“What? I-I guess, what is your-”

Nora couldn’t finish her sentence, she was cut off by his lips on hers. MacCready flipping them and holding her against the brick wall. A split second later she heard the awkward cough from the Neighborhood watchmen, in turn MacCready deepened the kiss.

Nora wouldn’t lie, she was enjoying this way more than she should have. MacCready just kept kissing her, and she could feel it start to affect her. His mouth moved down her neck and continued it assault there. She couldn’t help but let out a low moan when she felt his stubble lightly scratch at her skin.

“What did I tell you! Uhh, sorry, don’t mind us.” Then men walked away, but MacCready kept going until Nora couldn’t hear anything but the rain and their heavy breathing.

When they were alone, MacCready broke away from her, breathing slowly, as if to calm himself down. It was in that moment that Nora noticed something. Something she really should have noticed earlier.

MacCready’s body was laying flush against her’s, and she wasn’t the only one that was affected by their ‘performance’.

In that moment MacCready came to his senses, moving his body away from Nora. Nora fought the urge to pull him back, and settled on just letting her gaze wander over his body. The water had soaked them both completely, their clothing sticking to them like a second skin. Her eyes landed on the growing bulge straining against his pants.

“Oh God, I’m sorry, I-uh. I didn't mean-I mean I- I’m sorry Nora, I got carried away I-”

“Mac, you don’t have to apologize.”

“I kinda feel like I do-”

Nora decided in that moment she wasn’t going to leave him feeling like he was the only offender, “Mac. You weren’t the only one that was affected, mine’s just not as visibly noticeable.”

He looked at her and she felt a spike of arousal shoot through her, “Fuck, Nora.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter. Being completely honest, I wrote this all this morning, so I hope there aren't to many mistakes. Thank you for reading and the next chapter should be posted tomorrow.


	7. Chapter 7

“Fuck, Nora.” MacCready’s eyes were locked onto Nora’s, what the actual fuck had just happened. He opened his mouth to speak when they heard a noise.

“Hey, can you maybe take that to another alley, I’m trying to work here… Well, unless either of you are looking for a job…”

MacCready squinted his eyes, but couldn’t really see who it was, the small slate in the door only offered the strange woman’s eyes to be seen.

Nora pushed lightly on MacCready’s chest. He hadn’t even realized that he was up against her again. He took the hint, however, and moved away from her so she could work her magic.

Nora walked over towards the door, “What kind of work?”

“It’s good work. Under the supervision of the best boss you’ll ever have.”

MacCready seriously doubts that. This was Goodneighboor, it was most likely to be dirty work. But hey, work is work… as long as the pay is good.

“If you don’t mind a little manual labor and don’t ask too many questions, you’re in.”

There it was. If Goodneighboor was anything, it is always reliable on having secretive and dirty work available. 

“I’ll give you 50 caps to start. Interested?”

Oh fuck no, that was low-balling, Nora was not going to settle for that.

“You can do better than that.”

In the short time MacCready had known Nora he has not been disappointed with her attitude when it came to getting paid. Quite the opposite really, his mind flashing to what had just taken place a few minutes ago against the wall behind him. Yeah...he could get used to watching her work.

“Fine, take a 100 up front.”

Nora shakes her head, making a small movement to leave, “This is just a bad deal.”

“Wait…you’re killing me here. 150 to start.”

“Still not good enough.”

“200, and that’s as high as I go. Jeez, I gotta watch out for this one.”

Yeah, MacCready wholeheartedly agrees with that statement.

“We’re in.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Just so you know, pay is 200 caps. I’m not paying both of you. Let’s go inside. I’ll give you the rundown.”

When she swings open the door MacCready finally sees her whole face. He should have known it was Bobbi. Bobbi walks down the small flight of stairs and leaves them alone for a moment. He grabs Nora by the shoulder, “Her name is Bobbi, the usual type that hangs out in Goodneighbor.”

“Okay, got it, anything else I should know?”

“Not really, boss. Other than keeping your usual senses up when around her.”

“Boss? And here I thought we moved past that, Mac.” She smiles sweetly at him, and continues her way down the stairs.

MacCready swallowed, following after her. He liked the way Mac sounded coming out of her mouth, but he needed boundaries… No more slip ups, from now on he needed to call her boss. He could do that right? Yeah...no… he was not confident with that.

“Ready to get to work?”

“No, I followed you down here for the exercise.”

“Funny. Well, you’ll get plenty of exercise here. You are going to be doing some digging.”

Nora smiles, “What are we digging for? Buried treasure?”

Sarcasm suited Nora, MacCready had to say, it was not boring working for her.

“You can call it that. But seriously, lay off the questions. The other two are down there digging already. Go give ‘em a hand, will ya?”

Nora and MacCready begin to walk down the dark, dirt, tunnel until they hear a bang in the distance.

“Hey, I think we can finally get through.”

“What to see what’s on the other side?”

“Oh, yeah. You think Bobbi will pay us this week?”

“I don’t know, man. It’s starting to feel like we are doing charity…did you just hear somethin’?”

“Fuck! It’s crawling with mirelurks! Bail!”

“Bobbi can take this job and shove it. Good luck down there, new girl.”

Both of the tunnel workers ran past Nora and him, barely even giving them a second glance.

Nora pulls out her 10mm, “You ready?”

“Of course.” He pulls out his rifle and they walk into the small room. They make quick work of the mirelurks and the few egg nests. 

Nora is standing over one of the mirelurks and gives it a small push with the tip of her boot. “You know, before the bombs, these things about the size of my foot. Hell, I didn’t even like them then…I rather face a damn deathclaw then this fuckers…”

“Seriously?” 

“Hey, don’t judge me.”

MacCready puts his hands up in a mock surrender and Nora just lets out a small laugh shaking her head. He is happy that the kiss didn't affect the way they joke… he was not looking forward to discussing it later, however.

“Let’s head back to Bobbi to fill her in.”

“Yeah, okay boss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, it is a pretty short chapter. I will hopefully post a longer one tomorrow. I appreciate anyone that is reading and I thank you. Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments, I will answer any I see.


	8. Chapter 8

“What is going on in my tunnel?”

Nora smiles, “Looks like we are having crab for dinner tonight.”

MacCready lets out a small snort in amusement. Sarcasm definitely suits her. 

“You’d eat Mirelurk? Ugh, no. Disgusting. Tough, but somehow slimy at the same time.” 

“Really? I’ll take it over radroach any day… Hell I'll take it over any of the damn mutated bugs…” He looks towards Nora, “Now, that’s something I wouldn’t judge you on for choosing a deathclaw over… those fuc-things are disgusting.”

Nora rolls her eyes at him, deciding to rather continue her conversation with Bobbi. No matter, MacCready knows she found it funny.

Bobbi takes a moment to make sure she wouldn’t be interrupted again from MacCready, before she looks towards Nora, “Well you stuck around at least. So I guess you’re promoted. You get to be my new gun. I think we just need one more guy...other than you.” She gestured towards MacCready.

Call him crazy, but MacCready gets the feeling she doesn't like him all that much…

She continues, “An old friend. He’ll want a fair cut, but we saw where being cheap got me.”

“Who is this guy?”

“He is just the guy we need to speed things along. Likes gadgets, money, and not much else. First, I think it’s best if you actually see what we’re after. I have some things to check on in Diamond City. Head over to the Noodle shop there and I’ll meet ya when I finish up my business.”

Nora and MacCready began their walk out of the old tunnels, “You ready to finally go get out pay from Charlie?”

“Yeah.”

After finishing their business with Charlie they headed back to their room at the Rexford to get a few more hours of sleep. It had been a weird day, hell, it had felt as if Nora and him had known each other forever. MacCready doesn't even know what he should think about that…should he be worried...or just go with it.

He tried to quiet his thoughts, and after a while he fell into a dreamless sleep.

“Hey.” Nora nudged him awake. “It’s around 10am. These are yours. 700 caps. 250 for this week, 100 from Daisy’s job, 200 from Charlie, and finally 150 from the loot we sold to Daisy.”  
“Shi-shoot, is this a normal day’s money for you?” MacCready is shocked... he has enough to send to Duncan and keep some for himself. “Hey... do you have some paper and a pen or somethin’?”

“Yeah, are you writing a letter or something.”

“Uh… yeah, to some old friends in Capital Wasteland.”

“Wait… Are you not from the Commonwealth?”

“Um, no… I grew up in the Capital Wasteland,” MacCready smiles, “Hell, I was the mayor of Little Lamplight, a small town for children.”

“Hold on… there were no adults?”

“Of course, you can’t trust a Mungo.”

“A mungo?”

“Uh, yeah, it means adult. We watched each other's backs. When you turned 16, you left… it was hard, but that life in the wastes.”

“Is it still there?”

“I don’t know, I haven't been there for about a year now… a lot can change in that time.”  
MacCready picturing Duncan, hoping that in that time, he hasn’t gotten too much worse.

Nora nods, looking deep in thought, but ruffles through her pack until she finds some paper and a pencil, handing it to him. “ I leave you to that then. I’m going to go run a few small errands, all in Goodneighbor, so I’ll be back in a little while. Yeah?”

“Yeah...okay boss.” MacCready was already distractedly scratching down as many things to tell Duncan about. With that amount of caps he might just be able to raise enough to pay off Winlock and Barnes and hire a few hired-guns for the Med-Tek job… or maybe he could ask Nora? He would have to think about that...he wasn’t ready to opening up about that…

After about 30 or so minutes MacCready had finished his letter for Duncan. He grapped an small bag to put the letter in with 200 of the caps. He padded it so the tell-tale noise of jingling caps wouldn’t be a dead give away to what was in it.

His spirits were pretty high when he made his way towards Daisy shop to give her his letter, well that is, until he bumped into the same drifter from earlier. He knew this time it was no mistake. 

“Hey, sorry man.”

MacCready was about to ask him what his deal was, when he heard Nora calling his name from the distance. He decided to drop his conversation with the drifter and he watched Nora walk over to him.

They walked into Daisy’s shop together, leaving the drifter behind, but not enough distance in MacCready opinion.

“Hey, you done with that letter?”

“Yeah , I was just about to give it to Daisy to send it.” He hands it over to Daisy.

“I’ll make sure this will get to him, Mac, try not to worry too much.”

He nodded towards Daisy, a silent thank you painted on his face for not bringing Duncan’s name into it.

“So... I have a surprise for you.” Nora said, her hand behind her back.

“Well, shoot, I didn’t get you anything…did I miss a holiday or something, ‘give a gift to your recently hired gun day’?”

“Oh, shut up. Really it will help when we are doing a job.” Nora handed him a modified 10mm, close to the one she had, “It’s so when we have to do closer range shooting.”

“Nice. Thank you.” MacCready shook his head in amazement. “You know, people usually don’t do these sorts of things for their hired gun.”

“Come one Mac, we are more than that.” 

MacCready’s mind flashed to the alley, was she suggesting that they- “I would like to think we can be friends.”

Well shit, he just got friend-zoned hard. “Yeah. Friends.”

Unbeknownst to either of them, Daisy was rolling her eyes at them…”So, are either of you going to buy something or are you just gonna flirt with each other?”

Both Nora’s and MacCready’s faces flushed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. The story line should be picking up in the next few chapters. If there are any questions or suggestions for where you want the story to go feel free to comment them, I'll will read any that are posted.


	9. Chapter 9

Nora could feel her face burning with embarrassment, but asks to see what Daisy has in stock. After a few moments of them going back and forth of the prices, they come to an agreement. Nora hands over the agreed upon caps and packs the random supplies into her pack.

MacCready’s whole demeanor had changed when he had given that letter to Daisy, he still joked with her, but it felt a little forced. However, she chooses not to push him. His business was his business. 

She nudged him in the shoulder, getting his attention. “So, when I was running those few errands, I talked with Fred, turns out he does have a job for us.”

“Nice, I told you he would. So, what is it?”

“He wants something from the Hallucigen building. It is apparently already overrun by gunners, but I figured we have a stab at it. Got him to give us 400 caps for the job.”

“Sounds like a plan, oh here is your penc- What is this?” MacCready pulled out the pencil he had borrowed along with a scrap of paper. Handing her the pencil, he opened the note.

“What the?” He looked around him, eyeing every person who passed. 

“What is it? What does it say?”

He passed her the note, his head still on swivel. Nora reopened it and tilted her head in confusion. Nora read out loud the written words in small scribbled print, “Don’t go to Hallucigen without protection. Go to alley next to Memory Den. Look for a dumpster with this symbol.” She looks at MacCready, “ Do you know what this symbol is? A square with lines around it?”

“I don't know. I don’t know how it got in my pocket. I don’t know what it means, and I definitely don’t know who it is from. I’ve seen symbols like that over the commonwealth, but hell if I know what it stands for.”

“Well, I guess we should go see what’s in the dumpster?” She says it like a question.

“Yeah, I guess, but be careful. Who knows what is in there.”

It isn’t hard to spot the dumpster in question. The white paint looked relatively fresh, and appeared to still be wet.

Slowly opening the lid, they see a small bag sitting on the top. They pull it out of the dumpster and look at the contents.

“Wait… are these hazmat suits?”

“Looks like it… but how do they know we are going to hallucigen? Why do they think we need these? And finally how did the note get in my pocket?”

I don’t know, they probably heard me talking with Fred about the job… that is the only other time I said it out loud before talking to you, and by that time the note was probably already in your pocket. Did you talk with anybody before me?”

“No, I was walking towards Daisy’s shop to give her the letter, and then- Oh wait, yeah. A drifter ran into me. I didn’t get the chance to ask him what his deal was, because I heard you calling my name.” 

“So, it may have been him. Let’s go see if he is still there. Was he near Daisy’s shop?”

“Yeah, that's where I saw him last.”

When they walk back, Nora looks over to MacCready. He shakes his head, “He isn’t here, he wasn’t here when I found the note either.”

“Well, let's take the suits with us, if the note is actually trying to warn us we have them, if not then it’s no big deal.” Nora waits for his answer.

“Alright, are you ready to head out now?” MacCready doesn't look thrilled about it, but he agreed, so it has the count for something.

“Yeah, lets go.”

Their walk towards the hallucigen building was going relatively smoothly, only a few stray mongrels to deal with. They make their way towards the Boston common when MacCready puts his hand on Nora’s shoulder, stopping her. “Wait, this is the Common. We need to get the hell out of here… unless you like being killed.”

“Calm down. I’m assuming you are talking about Swan?”

“Uh, yeah, a giant thing can squash most people with probably one foot…”

“I already dealt with him. This area is clear.”

MacCready looks at her in disbelief, “You know what, I’m not going to question it, let's keep moving.”

Nora smiles in response but does keep their steady pace. When they get within range, MacCready aims his rifle, Nora doing the same. The gunners hadn’t noticed them, looked to be four of them. So they make quick work of putting them down, before continuing their way towards the building.

“Look, there is another one of those symbols, this one is an ‘x’ through. I wonder what it means?” Nora turns her head to look at MacCready, “So, decision time. Do we wear the suit or just go in?”

“Your call, I’ll follow your lead.”

Nora frowns, “Sure, you say that so you can blame me if it turns bad.”

MacCready just shrugged in response. Nora pulls out the hazmat suits and tosses one to MacCready.

They quickly put it on over their clothes, Nora has to stifle a laugh when she sees MacCready, these things made them look ridiculous.

When they open the door, they are greeted with hazy air around them. An announcement over a loudspeaker somewhere in the building drones on about a chemical leak. Seems Nora made the right decision about the suits.

They look towards the body slumped in the corner, “Was he killed by someone, or did the gas do this?”

“I have no clue, let's keep moving, but be quiet about it. Who knows what is going on here.”

Going further into the building, they come across a few other gunners, but they go down without much trouble.

“Who’s there? Come around the side!” 

Nora looks over to MacCready, and he shakes his head. “Whatever is going on here, is not our problem. Let’s just keep moving, get whatever Fred wanted.”

Nora nods agreeing with him before continuing their way through the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be two to three more chapter before hitting the main quest, I have a rough plan on where the story is going, but I'm mostly just writing it chapter by chapter. To those who are binge reading it, please tell me if it sounds choppy. I read the last chapter I post before writing the next, but sometimes I make mistakes. 
> 
> Anyways, big thank yous to those who are reading.


	10. Chapter 10

MacCready trailed behind Nora, walking beside the robot that had got from that tap-house. The damned thing walked slowly, but he had to admit, the cold drinks were nice.

“Greetings new friends. I am the Drinkin’ Buddy, but you can just call me Buddy.”

MacCready chose to ignore the conversation Rufus and Clair, apparently the name of the hotel owner? MacCready probably should have known that for how long he had been in Goodneighbor, but oh, well. 

Rufus turns to Nora, “Hey, thanks for your help. Buddy here is even better than I was hoping for! Here is your money.” He handed over Nora a baggie of caps. Nora smiles and thanked him before heading over to Fred.

“Hey, Fred…”

“You’re back! How was HalluciGen? Find me something good?”

MacCready doesn’t think he would consider it good. That damn stuff was fucked up. He, personally, would be happy to never go back to that damn building again. Things fucking up you mind? Yeah, no thank you.

“I think I’ve found a drug that even you’d think twice about huffing.” Nora said, handing over the canister they had picked up earlier.

MacCready scoffed. “That’s an understatement.”

“That so? Far out. Can’t wait to start breaking this down in the lab. Here’s your payment. In full. As promised.” handing over the caps, he took the canister, and left the room. MacCready assumed he left for his so-called lab.

After Fred was out of sight, MacCready turned to Nora. “So, where to boss?”

“We still got a few more hours of daylight, figured we head to Diamond City, see if Bobbi is there.”

MacCready nods, following her out of the Rexford, and then out of the gates of Goodneighboor.  
After a few miles of walking MacCready quickens his past to catch up to Nora. Now walking side by side, he looks at her. “Nice to be on the open road. Goodneighbor was starting to wear out its welcome.”

“What makes you say that? I mean I understand why it isn’t the best, but sure isn’t the worst.”

MacCready nods before answering her, “Goodneighbor was a good place to look for work, but a crappy place to hang your hat. Let’s put it this way. Can’t get much rest when you’re sleeping with one eye open. Still, it was the best place for me to set up shop.”

He pauses, “Diamond city’s goons would have run me out of town and wandering the Commonwealth alone isn’t the brightest plan when you’re hard up for caps.”

“How did you come about ‘setting up shop’ in Goodneighbor?”

MacCready stepped over a small piece of rubble on the road before he continued, “I made a deal with Hancock and started waiting for the caps to roll in.”

“Hancock. He is the mayor, right?”

“Yeah, he's eccentric, but he’s a good guy.”

“I’ve only met him once, when I had first came into Goodneighbor, a guy tried shaking me down. He stepped in before much could happen. Well, other than the guy getting a knife to the gut, but it seemed to be a common occurrence to those who fucked with Hancock.”

“That sounds like Hancock, but don’t get him wrong, Finn, I’m assuming it was Finn. He had been asking for it for awhile. He was constantly going against Hancock, and by doing that was going against Goodneighbor. From what I heard Hancock really changed things for Goodneighbor.”

Well, for what it’s worth caps are pretty important. They are one of the only unifying things in the wastes, from my time here. Building my army has not been the cheapest endeavor.”

“You’re goddamn right they are…and right now, I need every cap I can get.”

“I hope you aren’t in trouble...well more so than usual.”

“MacCready cracked a smile at that, “No, not really...but… I don’t usually go around sharing stuff like this, but you’ve been pretty straight with me, so I’m going to be straight with you. It’s those two assh… those two idiots you saw me talking to at the Third Rail, Winlock and Barnes. They’ve been hounding me for months and it’s been driving off clients. No one wants to touch me once they learn I used to run with the gunners.”

“Didn’t stop me.”

MacCready looks over to Nora, seeing her face flushed. She was talking about hiring him, not...touching him... right? Deciding to just ignore it, he continued. 

“And I figured if I could get enough caps together, maybe I could buy them out.”

“I wouldn’t trust those guys, even if you paid them off.”

“Yeah, I’m right there with you.” MacCready takes off his hat, running his fingers through his hair, before putting it back on. “Winlock and Barnes have a small army of Gunners with them at all times. They might decide to just keep the caps and put a bullet in my head for good measure. If I set up a place to meet them, I’m sure they’d roll in with everyone they’ve got.”

MacCready pauses... debating with himself, “Unless...maybe you and I could pay then a little visit and put an end to them before they realize what’s going on. And before you get that look on your face, let me just say I wouldn’t even be asking if I didn’t trust you.”

Nora smiles at him, “If you need my help, I’m there.” 

MacCready smiles back, “Wow… I don’t know what to say. Truth is, I haven’t been able to rely on anyone since I was a kid. Everyone I’ve met has either tried to rip me off or plant a knife in my back. But you. You’re different. We see eye-to-eye on almost everything. And I have a funny feeling you actually care what happens to me. That’s why I asked for your help.”

Nora stops walking and turns to face him, “I hope you know that I trust you too. I do care what happened. I know we haven’t known each other very long, but it doesn’t feel that way.”

MacCready nods agreeing with her. He has never felt this towards another person, even with Lucy it took him a while to trust. It was all so weird...but not bad.

“I’ll tell you what. I’m going to make this easy on you. If you feel like helping me with this-”

“I already told you I’m going to.”

“I know, just let me finish, yeah? Head over to the Mass Pike Interchange and we’ll take them down.” He gently pulls her arm up. Switching to the map on her Pip-Boy, he points to it on the map. She makes a small note in it and marks the location. 

“We will go do that as soon as our business in Diamond city is done and I find where the hell Nick has been.”

“If you decide you can’t, I won’t hold it against you.”

“We are going to do it.” Nora paused but then stuttered out, “That is take down Winlock and Barnes...not-uh...never-mind.”

Nora’s face was flushed, and MacCready took pity on her. For such a confident woman when it came to- well when it came to everything, she was a fumbling mess with any topic that could be remotely sexual.

“I understand, boss.”

“Call me Nora… I know you can.” 

MacCready flashed back to his slip up. When he called her Nora, he hadn’t meant to, but when she had admitted to being turned-on by him, it was too much. Hell, he even cussed out loud at that moment. This was the closest time that they had to come to discussing what had happened in that alley.

MacCready accepted the thought that it was probably going to be the furthest the conversation would get.

“Okay. Let’s keep moving, yeah? Diamond city is pretty close from here.”

“Yeah, let’s keep moving.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I did end up skipping to them just receiving their payment for the jobs. I felt that if I did write in both of those quests, it would have dragged out the story more so then needed. 
> 
> I hope this chapter was okay, and I thank anyone who is reading. 
> 
> The next chapter should be posted Monday.


	11. Chapter 11

The sun was just setting when they entered Diamond City.

“Haven’t been to Diamond City in years, but I’ll tell you… nothing’s changed.”

Nora snorts, “I’m not surprised.” The only reason Nora even has a house here, was because of how frequently she visits. “I want to go check in with Ellie, Nick’s assistant, before anything else. He was supposed to meet me in Goodneighbor the day we met. I hope he isn’t in trouble.” 

“Okay, do you want me to get a room at the Dug-out?” MacCready asks, his body turned in its direction.

“Uh, sorry I forgot to tell you. I own a house here, so we can stay there. However, I would not mind going to get a drink after I’m done. You are free to come with me, it should only take a few minutes, or you can go ahead of me to the Dugout.” 

“Well, damn, seriously how do you have this many caps?” MacCready’s face painted with curiosity.

“I’m technically the owner of quite a few shops, I have manufacturing plants, and with the help of the minutemen, I have reclaimed a lot of the pre-war factories. Most of them we got up and running… Oh and water purifiers… now that is a great source of income. Most of the settlements I run are near water.”

“Purified water can’t be worth that much.”

Nora can see the doubt written on his face, so she smiles. “We have an overabundance, hell, most of the settlements have running water and plumbing. The rest we sell.”

“What the fu-frick. How did you manage to get a plumbing system rigged for that many settlements?”

“Oh trust me, that was not a fun experience. The first few weeks, working out the kinks in the system was horrible.” Nora shuttered at the memory, yeah… not diving into the story.

She looked over to MacCready, “So…?”

“Oh right, I’ll follow you. It’s only going to take a few minutes?”

“Yeah.” Nora continued her way towards the alley, the red neon signs casting a glow across the walls as they passed. The sun was fully set by now, and when they entered, Nora squinted against the bright fluorescent light in the office.

She could hear Ellie rustling through paper around the corner, oblivious to their presence.  
“Ellie? It’s me, Nora.”

She came rushing around the corner and let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God. I was hoping you would come. Did the message get to you?”

“What message? I was waiting for Nick at Goodneighbor. The only message I got was from Daisy, saying he was going to be a few more days.”

“What! That was not the message I sent, no, he left only an hour after you did. He was heading to Goodneighbor and he was supposed to send word back. I got nothing. So I tried to contact you.”

Nora moves forward putting a hand on her shoulder. “Calm down. Maybe a case found him when he was heading to Goodneighbor, and he got sidetracked. Maybe that was his message.

“No… trust me Nora… something is wrong, I-” A loud knock on the door cuts Ellie off immediately.

MacCready slowly opens the door. “There is no one out here.” He walks out further, looking around the corner. The red neon light gives weird angles to everything he looks at, but something gleams in the corner of his eye. He approaches the wall, finding a pocket knife jammed into the metal wall, holding up a ragged piece of paper.

He hands it over to Nora. She carefully opened the note, and read it out loud.

“The gunners are involved with Nick’s disappearance. Go to the statue in front of Diamond City. Yow will know when you see it.” 

Nora holds the note out to MacCready, “Is this the same as-”

“Yeah, it’s the same handwriting.”

Nora hands the note over to Ellie, “We got a note like this before… The last one was actually helpful. Now that I think of it, it also involved gunners.”

Ellie looks at Nora, “Are you going to follow this?”

“Yeah, I don’t think we have much choice, this is our only lead. Even if it is a trap.”

“Be careful, okay. The gunners are no joke.”

Nora gave her a reassuring smile, turning to MacCready, “Let’s go check this out. I don’t want to waste any time.”  
They begin walking towards the statue, walking side-by-side, “Sorry about the drinks”

MacCready shrugged, “it’s no big deal, this seems important.”

“More than you think. Nick was carrying the only clue I had to find my son. He had a plan and personally I really didn’t want to carry it.”

MacCready looked over to her, still matching her stride, “What was it?”

“It was part of Kellogg's brain, he was working with the Institute, it had wires and stuff attached to it. It was pretty disgusting.”

“I hope you don’t mind, but what happened to your son?” 

“You really don’t know? Most people do, I mean with the article Piper published”

“Wait, there was an article about you?”

“Yeah, Piper really wanted it, I wasn’t really interested, but Nick said it might help to find Shaun. I mean, between the radio and the paper, I feel like people think they know me better than I do. Hell, maybe they do, I don’t know.”

“Oh, please, people of the Commonwealth think they know everything but, trust me they don’t.

Nora doesn't answer back, deciding to walk to the front of the statue. She turns on the light from her Pip-boy, illuminating her surroundings. “There, look it's the same symbol as before. The square with the lines. It’s so small, probably wouldn’t have noticed it if we hadn’t seen it before. Wait, there’s an arrow.”

Nora gets on her knees to look at the small writing. She traced the arrow with her finger, the paint was dry. Looking down, she sees a piece of pavement a little higher than the area around it. 

She pries the pavements away and moves it to the side. She reaches inside and pulls out a small bag. She covers the hole, and stands back up.

Inside the bag was another piece of paper, opening it reveals a shaky, but relatively accurate map. MacCready leans over, looking over her shoulder.

He points at the small ‘x’ on the map, “Nora. That’s Mass Pike Interchange.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is where is going to start diverging from the game. I hope that the chapter was okay. 
> 
> Thank you for reading.


	12. Authors Note

I am going on a small hiatus to edit the past chapters. I will probably be re-writing them.

With the Covid-19, I've been asked to work at home, allowing me more time to work on this story. 

Thankyou for reading so far, and please stay with me.


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